Apparently, Janet Jackson still has CBS running scared. It seems that after her Superbowl incident, the network didn’t want to take any risks with Jackson, who appeared on Late Night with David Letterman today. The irony, however, is that this time, the network wasn’t concerned about the cleavage and naval area being shown on television. Instead, CBS bleeped out the term “Jesus,” which Jackson said in response to Letterman’s question about the Superbowl incident.

Growing up Jewish, I sometimes found myself in an awkward position in school when we sang deeply religious songs or when the principal led the entire (public) school in prayer, explicitly referrring to Christ. That is, in my opinion, completely different from someone using the term “Jesus” in a context that wasn’t related to religion (at least not consciously).

Did CBS bleep out “Jesus” because it was a use of the Lord’s name in vain? Were they afraid of getting sued by non-Christians at a time when the pledge of allegiance is under attack for the phrase “one nation under God”?

If it’s the former, then there’s a slight irony that a reference to Jesus has been silenced at a time when the growing conservative tide that has backlashed against everything from Janet’s nipple to same-sex marriage has been articulated largely on the basis of religious convictions. Perhaps they don’t want someone like Jackson, who has become the beacon of sexual chaos in the U.S., to be associated with the term.

If it’s the latter, then perhaps one’s got to wonder whether secularists have taken things one step too far. Jackson wasn’t saying the term in a State-sponsored event. The fact that she wasn’t using the term in a religious context seems to suggest that no one’s freedom of belief or expression was violated (except maybe Jackson’s).

On a somewhat related note, were you aware that section 215 of the Patriot Act states “third-party holders of your financial, library, travel, video rental, phone, medical, church, synagogue, and mosque records can be searched without your knowledge or consent, providing the government says it’s trying to protect against terrorism?” Would the real Joseph McCarthy please stand up?

Laura Nathan-Garner